Review - As soon as the over the top intro starts, it appears immediately clear that Capcom spent some time and money on this game.

Matrix-style slow-mo acrobatics, funny dialogues and Hollywood-style camera angles all contribute to create a great atmosphere from the first minute you load Devil May Cry 3 (DMC3). It is no secret that when Devil May Cry first came out, Dante was one of the coolest and most stylish characters ever created. The crimson trench coat, the black leather pants, the huge broad-sword and the guns make him look like the ultimate gothic demon-slayer.

With DMC3, Capcom pushed the coolness of the character way beyond as now Dante has about 6 different fighting styles from which to pick from and they all look and play pretty differently.

So for instance the Trickster style will allow you to quickly dodge attacks and run up walls while the Gunslinger style will allow you to shoot in multiple directions, to perform uber-spectacular moves such as Rain Storm or to surf on the back of knocked down enemies! So basically every style allows the player to perform specific things so the fighting aspect of DMC3 is way beyond the prequels as it betters them in all aspects. If you thought you could do stylish combos in DMC and DMC2, wait until you see the kind of chain-combos you can perform in DMC3. They really are unbelievable.

What is interesting is that DMC3 talks about events that took place before DMC so as a result, Dante is younger and he acts accordingly meaning that he is crazier and probably more arrogant. This aspect of the game might bother some players as his humor can sometimes feel a bit obnoxious but we won't criminalize Capcom for that now, right?!

Graphically DMC3 has great animations, a very inspired modern / gothic setting very reminiscent of the first DMC and of course a great character design. My only gripe with the graphics is that they could look cleaner (I thought that jaggies were pretty annoying) and that more polygons could have been used to shape the characters who, at times, look slightly boxy. But these problems will more likely be addressed when the franchise will move to more powerful hardware…

As for the music, I found the gothic metal score to be really powerful and to complement the action perfectly. You have classical music with angelic choirs brutally interrupted by a devastating death metal sound! Personally I really enjoy this kind of music and it somewhat reminded me of the early days of gothic metal bands such as Theatre of Tragedy, Therion or Tristania.

So as I said before, gameplay has been greatly enhanced over the other episodes of the series but be warned though, on Normal mode the game is pretty challenging although after you fail over 3 times, the easy difficulty mode is unlocked. I finished the 20 missions of the game on Normal mode and I must say that the challenge is there but it is very manageable if you upgrade your weapons and acquire additional bars of health and magic.

Bottom line: to conclude, DMC3 restores the series to where it belongs: the top of the crowd. It is probably one of the best action games on PS2 and one you shouldn't miss! 9,5/10